Improvement in fire-places



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. ADAIR. FIRE-PLACE.

Patented June 19, 187 7.

wmwsus W N-PEIERS, FHDTO-UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. [1 0.

Tolall whom it may concern provements.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- JAMES 'AD AIao ALEPVPO TOWNSHIP, AL EGHENY COUNTY, 1m

llVlPROVEMENT m FIRE-PLAC S.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 192,046, dated June 19, 18 77 application filed I March 15,1877.

Be, it known that 1, JAMES ADAIR, of Aleppo township,f(Pittsburg P. O.,) in the county of. Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have.

inventeda new and useful Improvement in Fire-Places, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accom- "panying drawing, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sections, in perspective, looking upward from the front showing a fire place provided with my im- Fig. 3 is a plan view of frames and grates. Fig. 4 is a section of same through the section-line as w, and Figs-5 and 6 are; plan views of the rocking-bar.

Figs. 7 and 8 are enlarged views of detached parts, herein. after described.

.The object of my invention is to improve a fireplace having an ash-pit and a dust-flue damper, as described in patents granted to me July 6, 1875, and July 4, 1876, so that a lowdown grate can be agitated and dumped'by simple means, and so that the smoke, flame,

and ashes shall, by the incoming air, be de flected or projected toward the rear of the fire-cha n ber, thereby protectingthe room from smoke, highly heating the fire-tile, burning .ofi' unsightly-soot, and increasing the radiation of heat.

Above an ordinary ash-pit, A, Figs. 1 and 2, freely supplied with air, a stationary metal frame, B, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, rests in an inclined position, with its upper end tight upon the hearth-stone 0, Figs. 1 and 2, which enters cutaway at one point to admit the point of a l of the frame B, Figs. 2 and 3, but to the rear of the center of gravity, notches or bearings are made, in which turn' trunnions carrying the flanged grate-frame E, Figs. 2, 3, and 4,

which, at rest, Fig. 1, has the same inclination as th'esurrounding frame B, and which, atits upper end, within the flange F, Fig. 3,

has a fore-plate, Gr, providedwith a slot or poker-hole, H. This fore-plate G may be cast with the-frame, or may be separate therefrom and hinged to the upper endthereof, whereby it would serve in lieu of the pawl hereinafter described, and would also serve as an escapevalve for any'air it might be desired to pass under the grate, but not throughthe fuel, and downward from the rear, respectively,

In the upper and lower ends of this grateframe E, Fig. 3, are notches or beariu gs, which carry a central rocking-bar, I, Fig. 5, andv two right and left comb-shaped grates, J .J, Figs. 3 and 4, "hung 0% their centers of gravity, the

journals or gudgeons k k, Fig. 3, of which.

being but prolongations of the backs of the combs. The teeth of one comb-grate lie between the teeth of the other, leaving an airspace throughout, and the teeth of both lie in, or nearly in, the same inclined plane, and directly upon the rocking-bar I, Figs. 1,3, 4,

which alone prevents the grates turning downward on their gudgeons 70 is, Fig. 3.; A row of short teeth, or stumps rat-her, L, Fig.3, extends along the back of the comb-grate on the side opposite the long teeth, although they may be dispensed with if desired, and the grate made like Fig. 3 in my patent of July 4, 1876. The rocking-bar I, Fig. 5, at its upper end, has a shoulder provided with a slot, M, to register at right angles with a central poker-hole, H, Figs. 3and 4, in the fore-plate G of thegrate-frame E, and'is also provided with a pin or lug, 0, to bear against a pawl, P, Figs. 3 and 4, working on a hinge, q, Fig. 3, at one side of thepoker hole, so as to hold up the rocking-bar -I, Figs. 3 and 5, and thereby keep the superimposed grates in the same plane.

In Fig. 6 is shown a double rocking-bar, which, when the fuel is free from slate,.may be employed in place of the singlerockingbar, which is but the former with one side re-' moved. The double rocking-baiyFig. (incommunicates a more rapid jarring motion to the grates but if slate or clinkers be present the grates are more'apt to bind than if the single rocking-bar and the drop-motion be used.

For thepurpose of hiding the heated and unsightly upper end of frame B, Fig. 2, and to prevent ashes blowing'out between .said

V damper and rod described in my patents before named, operates as follows: The damper being closed, and the pawl P, Fig. 3, bearing against the pin'O, holding the rocking-bar I and grates J J at their proper level, the air enters between the teethof the grates, and

as the sides or faces of these teeth or bars are backwardly inclined, the air'jets carrying smokev and flame from the burhing fuel are projected backward away from the room and against the rear and roof tiles, which 7 are thereby raised .to a-higher heat than if the flame wentstraight up, as usual, while, for the same reason, the ro'oftile need not be inclined so far forward as to endanger making a smoky chimney, and the grate can also be more of a low-down than is customary.

By'releasing the pawl P, Fig. 4,.the rocking-bar and superimposed grates, turning on their gudgeons, drop downward, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 4, when, by inserting a common poker through the poker-hole of the fo're-plate of the grate-frame into the registering-slot of the rocking-bar, the latter can be rocked, and the grates resting thereon thereby agitated, the teeth of one grate pass ing those of the otherwith a sheering motion,

which, from the original level, may be to a level below and return, or to a level above, as

in Fig. 4, and return, or may be a combina' J tion of both movements; but I deem the dropmotion first named (shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 4) the safest and best. The raking being completed, the rocking-bar is turned to,- and secured in, its original position.

By placing the poker .underthe flange of A the grate-frame at the cut-awayplace on the stationary frame, the former, turning on its trunnions, Fig. 2, carrying grates and rockingbar, can .be dumped, which operation, as well as raking, can also be performed by upwardly'turning, as far as may be necessary, the grates on their gudgeons, using the poker, the grate-frame and rocking-bar remaining stationary,

Various modifications of this grate maybe made within the scope of my invention. For

instance, the comb-grate may have independent teeth, each turning on a common rod or journal, and short supplemental teethfor stumps, rather, may be attached to the inner side of the grate-frame, with similar stumps on the comb-grate to pass between them, While a strengtheningbar near their points may be made to connect the under edges of the teeth, where fixed or loose yokes may be added, by bifurcating the teeth or otherwise, through which the rocking-bar can pass, and a positive down-and-up motion be thereby imparted to the grate.

In lieu of the rocking-bar a central stationary bar, lug, or stop, supporting the combgrates, may be attached to the stationary "frame; tilting the grate-framewould then agitatc the grate. And, further, the sides or faces of the grate bars or teeth may be oblique to the plane of the grate, like the slats of a window-blind, instead of at right angles thereto. Finally, I would add that a rear-sloping perforated plate, lying upon the rocking-bar in place of the comb-grates, could be agitated, and would rearwardly project the incoming air.

I am aware that parallel bars crossing a central shaft and having a shearing-or rocking motion have been employed in various ways for agitating grates, and that grate-bars have been arranged in the direction of their length, however oblique to the natural line of draft,

but incapable of deflecting I the incoming air.

What I claim as new, and desire'to secure by Letters Patent. is-' 1. Aseries of bars or equivalent'grating of a the grate, extending transversely across from side to side of atire-chamber, with their side faces oblique to the natural line of draft and sloping from front to rear, 'wherebylthe ascending flame, smoke, and ashes are, by the incoming air, deflected or projected obliquely from a vertical direction, substantially as described. 4

2. In combination with a fire-grate,a 'rocking-bar, single or double, havingthe journals '1; o, and having at one end a poker-slot, substantially as described;

3. In combination with a' fire-grate, a rocking-bar, single or double, having the journals '0 'U, and having at one end a poker-slot "and stop-pin, substantially as described;

4. An inclined stationary frame, B, having a beveled front, and with its stringers notched or cut away to gain a bearing on the hearthstone, substantially as described. 1

5. A flanged grate-frame hung on trunnions, having seats or bearings front and rear, for the g'udgeons or journals of the coinb grates and rocking-bar, and with a tore-plate-provided with a poker-hole, and a hinged pawl therea-t, substantially as described.

6. A mantel-frame having its lower ends or feet connected by a cross-bar made in one piece therewith, in combination with a lowdown grate, substantially as described.

7. The stationary frame B and the ornamenting and protecting cross-bar R at its front end, and a non-conducting packing-space between them, combined substantially as de- I scribed.

8. The combination of the stationary frame, downwardly inclined from front to rear, and the grate-frame tilting thereon, the center of rotation extending from side to side of the fire-chamber, substantially as described. I

9. The combination of a grate-frame, a rock ing-bar, and a grate resting on the bar and hinged at one side of the center line of the frame, within which it vibrates, substantially as described.

10. The combination of arocking-bar and a grate resting thereon and pivoted 011' the center,substantially as described.

11. The combination ofa rocking-bar, the comb-grates resting thereon, the grate-frame,

and inclined stationary frame, substantially as described.

12. The rocking-bar I, carried wholly by the tilting grate-frame E, and accessible only through or over the grateframe, for the purpose of agitating the grate-bars, the combination being substantially as set forth;

fAMEs ADAIR.

Witnesses:

R. G. HOPE, A. H. Hows. 

